Shadow of the Night
by IXypheryl
Summary: Eckhart had a recurring dream of his unpleasant past and was feeling uneasy with it on Cygnus's birthday. Back story may not be true. A work after a long time of inactivity, do excuse me if I have any mistakes around. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

_Remember Eckhart, the shadow is your home and the light is your greatest enemy._

His eyes flung open and saw his right hand reaching out to the ceiling. He quickly realized it was a dream and he slowly lowered down his hand and covered his eyes. "God damn," he muttered. "How many times was it for this week…?"

"Another nightmare?" Hawkeye asked from across the room. Eckhart lifted his hand up and turned to the right. Hawkeye was standing by the door, his hands in the pockets of his grey shorts.

"It was nothing," Eckhart reverted to his original position and put his hand back to his eyes, letting out a sigh.

Hawkeye shrugged upon his friend's reaction and left him alone.

"Why does everyone have to be so bright?" Eckhart murmured alone after hearing Hawkeye's footsteps getting faint. His left hand clutched at the collar of his shirt. "It hurts…"

He continued lying down on the bed for thirty minutes to settle down his thoughts before he got out of the bed, wearing his expressionless mask on his face. "Good morning, Eckhart," Mihile, who was sitting at the dining table right in front of his room, greeted when he comes out. Eckhart nodded at him and went to the bathroom.

"What's gotten into him?" Mihile asked Hawkeye, who was sitting beside him and sipping coffee from a beige mug. "He's awfully cold today."

"Really?" Hawkeye grinned. "He seemed normal to me. You're seeing things."

Mihile raised an eyebrow from his answer and said nothing. They both continued sipping their coffee from their own mugs in silence until Eckhart opened the bathroom door. Eckhart noticed them staring at him and frowned slightly. "Yeah, maybe I am," Mihile muttered after a while before taking another sip. This had made Eckhart frowned deeper.

"Just ignore us and hurry up with your breakfast. We got to be earlier than _she_ is today, you remember?" Hawkeye put down his mug onto the table. "Nineheart's going to give us the glare if we don't."

"Oh, look at the time!" Mihile said after looking at the wall clock near the entrance to the cabin. He then gulped down his coffee. "Thanks for the heads up, Hawkeye." He stood up with the mug and brought it to the sink.

"What?" Eckhart asked while Mihile washed his mug swiftly.

"It's the Empress's birthday today, Eckhart," Hawkeye explained. "Nineheart had it all planned out. We've got to make a surprise for her." Mihile paced to his room with a broad smile on his face.

Eckhart was silent for a moment. "Oh," he said upon remembering.

"She probably won't be waking up _this_ early. She was up all night reading stories again, probably," Hawkeye added. "Just go to the garden before ten. Nineheart's going to start briefing us about it."

Eckhart nodded and went to the fridge to find some food. Mihile was already in his full armor, and under Hawkeye's stare he went out of the cabin with a beautifully wrapped present in his hands. "He sure is all worked up with the Empress's birthday," Hawkeye muttered. "What did you get for her?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" He looked at him in disbelief. "Don't tell me… you've completely forgotten about it?"

Eckhart stopped searching for anything edible in the fridge and stayed silent. Hawkeye sighed. "What are you going to do now? You have like, three hours to go to Victoria Island and get something nice for her!" Hawkeye swallowed the last few of his drink.

"I'm not going."

"Pardon?" Hawkeye raised an eyebrow, putting his mug down.

"I said, I'm not going to the Empress's birthday party."

"Why?" Hawkeye got up from his seat. "It's an important day for her and–"

"I said I'm not going!" Eckhart raised his voice. Hawkeye was taken aback by this and stared at him, shocked at his actions. Eckhart realized what he had done and wanted to apologize, but somehow his body moved on its own and instead slammed the fridge door shut and walked back to his room.

"What the hell?" Hawkeye muttered after a while of shock. He raked his mind for what had happened to him, and upon remembering the past, he realized what was probably going on and released a heavy sigh. "He isn't over with that yet, huh…"

Eckhart threw himself face first onto the soft bed. "Darn it," he mumbled as he clutched tightly at the pillow. "I've done it now…"

-x-

"We're lacking of one person…" Nineheart muttered as looked at the group of chief knights in front of him. Hawkeye, in his full armor, looked to the left, where the cabin was, in a daze. Oz realized this and nudged him. He snapped back to reality and looked to his right. Oz grinned at him, her hands behind her.

"What's wrong? You're not like yourself today," she said. "Something on your mind?"

"Nah, nothing," he shook his head and forced a smile.

"Where's Eckhart?" Nineheart asked the chief knights. "Anyone knows where he is?"

"He's probably not coming," Hawkeye replied, raising his right hand.

"Why?" Mihile turned around, frowning. Nineheart narrowed his eyes and closed them a moment later.

"We'll continue with the plan. The Empress is our highest priority right now," Nineheart announced.

"But this isn't a real birthday party if Eckhart's absent!" Mihile scowled at him. "All knights should be present here!"

"Do we have a choice right now, Knight of Light?" Nineheart looked at him sharply. Mihile gritted his teeth from his taunt and kept quiet, knowing that he was right. Nineheart continued after a short sigh. "Alright, here's the plan at noon..."

-x-

Cygnus felt something on her bed and fluttered her eyelids open. Oz and Irena, who was throwing rose petals all over her bed, noticed that she was awake. "Oh no!" Oz exclaimed before slapping her mouth with both hands. Cygnus stared at the both of them, confused. Irena tossed the remaining rose petals at the Empress before throwing the wooden basket at the floor and pulled Oz away from her chamber. They were gone in a moment.

Cygnus stared at the door for a while. "Huh?"

She shook her confused thoughts away and got out from her bed to change from her night wear. She opened the bathroom sleepily and noticed her bathroom was also covered with rose petals. "What's this?" she murmured to herself. "Is this some kind of prank?"

After washing her face, she went out to her chamber, hoping to capture the two knights who were doing ridiculous things to her when she was asleep. She saw Mihile standing behind a tree doing something. She called out to him. "Mihile, have you seen Oz and Irena?" she asked.

Mihile jumped upon hearing her voice and looked at her in shock. He dropped what he was holding and ran away, his face flushed. Cygnus cocked her head and walked towards where he was standing earlier. There were several thorny stems and a few rose petals on the ground. Her eyes widened in horror. "Gosh… even Mihile was a part of this? And roses… were they messing with my rose garden?" Cygnus slowly became infuriated of the matter. She stomped to the flight of stairs where it leads to the Chamber of Knights, where the chief knights would often linger around at.

On the way to the destination, she heard someone whistling. She scanned around the forest along the pathway to find where the noise came from. It was from Hawkeye, who was at her left. He was whistling while throwing something that looked like red confetti to the air, take a step back and repeat. Curiously, she tip-toed to his location to see what he was throwing – she feared it was the roses she planted at the rose garden. However, she was heard halfway through and Hawkeye turned, revealing the bunch of rose petals he was holding.

"Hawkeye!" she yelled. "Were you-" she trailed off when Hawkeye threw every last rose petals he had to the air and ran to the opposite direction where he was facing. Her heart ached upon seeing the rose petals on the ground. She assumed that they must be heading to her garden behind her castle. "I won't let them go!" she said to herself, and then pulled up the tips of her dress and ran to the garden.

She met Nineheart at the castle's entrance. Nineheart panicked when he saw her. "Your Highness! Where have you been?" he asked, worryingly. "I fear someone had taken you away!"

"Nineheart," she stopped, catching her breath after a run. "Have you seen… my knights?"

He blinked. "I was sure I saw them heading towards the back of the garden…"

"How dare they!" she scowled. Nineheart raised an eyebrow, acting he didn't know about the incident. "Do you know? I saw them playing around with roses! I am very, very sure that those roses they have are from my garden! I will give each of them a heavy punishment when I catch them!" She then stomped towards the rose garden. Nineheart quickly followed behind her.

She opened the gates to the garden. "Listen, you all –" she began, but saw no one inside the garden. The roses were still intact as they were yesterday. She blinked, confused. "Hello?" she called out as she walked down the pathway. The Empress saw a table placed at the end of the garden, where the view was the prettiest in her opinion, with a blue cake on the table. The cake had two tiers with five candles on it – two in which were bigger than the other three. The edges of the cake were decorated with whipped cream.

She noticed the words written at the top tier of the cake. "'Happy Birthday'… who's birthday was it?" she muttered. The sound of pops from the back made her jumped and she was coated with confetti. She turned around and saw the knights she was looking for standing behind her, each holding a cone-shaped birthday popper. Nineheart stood behind them with an apologetic smile on his face.

"Happy birthday, your Highness!" they said together with smiles on their faces.

She was confused momentarily before she realized what was happening. "Oh… Oh my… you all remembered my birthday!" she cried in joy. "I almost forgot it myself, too… Thank you, all of you."

Irena and Oz looked at each other and grinned. Mihile looked away with a wide smile on his face. Hawkeye gave her the present he had bought for her with a huge grin on his face. Mihile noticed it and gave his to her right after him. The other two, too, quickly took out their presents and handed it to the empress, along with another sentence of 'Happy Birthday'.

Cygnus looked around. "Where's Eckhart?"

The atmosphere suddenly turned gloomy. Nineheart quickly explained to her. "Eckhart… well, he…"

"Eckhart was sick, Your Highness," Hawkeye finished his sentence for him with a smile. "I'm sorry that he was absent for your surprise birthday party."

"Oh," she muttered, narrowing her eyes in sadness. The atmosphere was worsening and the five didn't know what to do to ease it up. The person who they wanted to be happy was saddened by the absence of one. Mihile was about to rush out in anger to find Eckhart but Hawkeye grabbed his hand and shook his head. He clicked his tongue.

"But, it's alright, your Highness! We're still here for you!" Oz replied. "C'mon, let's cut this cake! Don't look so gloomy on your birthday, Your Highness!"

Cygnus forced a smile. "Yes, of course. Let's."

Nineheart sighed in relief. Hawkeye gave a thumb up at Oz behind the empress. Irena aided the empress on cutting the cake. Even though the atmosphere was a bit awkward, Cygnus was happy to have her birthday celebrated along with the others. She looked a little sad throughout the party, which was noticed by all of the knights and her strategist. She pondered if _he _was still not used to his lifestyle as a knight serving under her.


	2. Chapter 2

Eckhart sat on the tree branch of a large tree near the lake, staring at the sky slowly turning from blue to orange. _The surprise party was probably over, _he thought to himself. He regretted for not going to the party and also speaking rudely to the friend who was with him since he was into the dark business of the world. "Remember, the shadow is your home and the light is your greatest enemy," he muttered to himself, remembering the words he heard from the nightmare he had.

The nightmare bugged him a lot. He may have devoted himself to the Empress of Ereve to be the Knight of Darkness because none other suited him other than the darkness itself, but the dark past of his continued clinging onto him recently, as if to haunt him not to get comfortable on becoming a light. It was an irony for someone like him, who lived in the lower part of the world, where cruelty and killing was his second nature, had suddenly became the light, serving under the queen, having other young knights who learn their skills from him, respect him, and admire him.

This all happened because of the Empress's kindheartedness to accept a person like him, no matter how rotten he already was in the core. She, too, had accepted Hawkeye, who was a liar that could make people trust him easily. In the time where he provides his service to the Queen, Eckhart noticed the major changes in Hawkeye. He slowly got out from the habit of lying to people and opened up to others. It was easy for him as he was always the one that interacts to the victims before luring them to Eckhart. He, on the other hand, who barely opened his mouth to others, found it extremely hard to socialize to the others. He usually never mutters more than a word.

It was uncomfortable at first, but Hawkeye made it easy for him to get comfortable with the other knights. He was grateful to him, but deep inside he felt that his friend was getting more distant as the days passed. He had slowly become a light that he, no, they both once hated. The light is blinding and warm, and they were more than he could take. It was too bright for someone who lived so long under the darkness. It _hurts._ Yet he was somehow attracted to it as the time passed while serving the young empress that stretched out her hand to him when he was on the verge of death.

_Eckhart, never leave the darkness. It is the only thing you could rely on._

The sun slowly sunk to the ground. Its shed of light felt uncomfortable to Eckhart's eye and he raised his hand to block it.

"I still can't get use to it…" he whispered.

Suddenly, he heard someone stepping onto dry leaves. It was already that season, after all. He scanned around the area on alert, ready to strike. Was he already been found? None other than Hawkeye knows that he likes to spend his time around the lake.

Even though he was hiding, Eckhart quickly saw him behind the tree at the other side of the lake. The blue cape of his had given his location out. As if Hawkeye knew it, the blue cloth was quickly pulled out of sight. Eckhart lowered down his guard and let out a sigh.

Suddenly he had realized what he had first thought of the sound.

He was ready to kill, just like old times.

Fear went down to his spine. He was afraid of himself. He was afraid of the demonic shadow of his past self. He looked down at his palms, which were facing upwards. He could feel the warm blood that had tainted his hands at his younger times.

_This is your life now, Eckhart. Just accept it and live on._

He remembered the words of the man that recruited him to be an assassin. That was from when he was ordered to kill a man. He was afraid at first, but did it at the end. He remembered his younger self was shivering in fear at the first sight of excessive blood on the lifeless body and on his hands.

Suddenly, he pictured the Knights of Cygnus, the strategist and the empress- everyone's bodies were covered with blood. He didn't want that to happen. Quickly he went down the trees and ran away from the area. He didn't want to hurt anyone else.

"Eckhart!" Hawkeye yelled his name, but he ignored it.

He ran as fast as he could, as far as his legs would bring him. He stopped after a while and looked at his surroundings. He was back at the Chamber of Knights, where they all would linger around at the Empress's Road.

"Eckhart?" a voice behind him startled him. He quickly turned around and saw the empress standing behind him. Her eyes gleamed in happiness, but to him, it felt like a blinding light – something he should be avoiding. It was suffocating. He was about to make an attempt to run away from her when she reached out and grabbed his wrist.

"Eckhart," she repeated his name, this time with a soft tone that somewhat soothed him. He looked at her, feeling less panicked than before. "Are you okay? Hawkeye told me that you were sick."

He knew Hawkeye was lying again and decided to follow up to his lies. "Yeah…" he muttered and faked a cough, avoiding eye contact with her, fearing that he would, one day, betray her from the excessive light that was given out from this place and the other knights, but most of all, from her.

"You're lying, aren't you?" she said. He fixed his gaze at the tree to his right, not saying a word. "Are you still feeling uncomfortable in here?" she continued. "Are you still remembering about the past?"

His eyes widened for a little while, shocked because she knew what was happening, and tried to conceal his expressions.

"Was it my fault that you couldn't face me right now?" Cygnus asked in sad tone. She believed it was her fault that her knight wouldn't even look her in the eye.

"No!" he quickly looked at her, horrified at her misunderstanding. She looked at him in the eye and he tensed. He quickly looked away. Cygnus released her grip on him. "No… that's not it…" she could hear him mutter.

They stood in silence for a moment before Eckhart took a deep breath in, faced the empress and asked her a question, "Your Highness, have you regretted on taking me as one of your knights?"

Cygnus was taken aback from his question. She looked at the ground for a while to think of a proper reply. "I have never once doubted your loyalty to me, Eckhart," she said. "I don't know why you were deliberately avoiding me for the past few days, but I felt that it was related to your past. When I take you in years ago, do you remember what I said to you?"

He stayed silent. "I told you I did not care of your origins or the actions you have made during the past, and I merely picked you to become one of my knights based on your skills," she continued when he didn't say a word. "I have never regretted my actions on recruiting you when you and Hawkeye pledged your loyalty to me."

In that instance, Eckhart felt stupid for doubting her actions. He nodded and got down on one knee, his eyes fixed at the ground. Cygnus was about to open her mouth to tell him to get up, but he took her hand and kissed it. "I swear my loyalty to the Empress of Ereve," he said, repeating the words he had once said several years ago, when he had decided to rebirth anew, neglecting his past. Cygnus was shocked by his actions, but at the end she smiled.

When he got up, Irena had found them when she was looking for the empress. "Whoa," she said when she saw them together. "Well, uh, am I disturbing anything?"

Eckhart blinked at her, for a moment he wasn't sure what she had meant, and when Cygnus looked awkward, he quickly shook his head, alarmed. Irena grinned. "Well, since you're here, why don't we celebrate the Empress's birthday?"

"Huh? But you've just celebrated it earlier…" Cygnus frowned at her.

"Well, now he's here, so we all can celebrate your birthday together without that sad look, right?" Irena turned around. "You better come, Eckhart, to the rose garden. Mihile and Hawkeye will never forgive you if you're absent for one more time!" Then, she ran into the forest.

Cygnus's face flushed. Eckhart noticed it but took no heed of it. "Shall we go, Your Highness?" he looked at her. She snapped out of her thought, looked at him in shock, and then nodded with an embarrass smile. Eckhart never knew what she was thinking at that moment, nor was he curious about it. He took her hand and they both walked towards the rose garden.

When they both arrived, everyone pulled their party poppers at them. Eckhart shook his head away while letting her hand go. "Happy birthday, Empress Cygnus!" everyone said once again. She turned to look at Eckhart.

"Happy birthday, Your Highness," he smiled. Hawkeye went behind him and lifted the edges of his mouth with his fingers.

"Smile more, Eckhart!" he grinned. Eckhart glared at him and attempted to hit him with his elbow. Hawkeye quickly moved away before he could do so and laughed. Oz laughed when Eckhart chased after him to land a blow.

"Well, all's well ends well," Nineheart said, shaking his head at all the fuss made just at Eckhart's absence earlier. He looked at the empress's expression. She was smiling more than before, and this time, more genuinely. The cooks of Ereve had prepared a feast and everyone in Ereve was invited to dine in. One by one, the citizens of Ereve shook hands with Cygnus and said their blessings.

It was a fun evening for Cygnus. She was escorted back to the castle by Nineheart and Mihile after the party. Oz was drunk and spouted all of her complains regarding the absence of Eckhart earlier. "If you had come earlier, the party during the afternoon wouldn't be so tense!" she complained to Eckhart. He merely nodded at her. Irena placed her palm to her forehead. Hawkeye was sleeping on the ground, drunk from losing the poker game to Nineheart.

Eckhart silently left the brightly-lit garden and went back to the cabin. He climbed up the tree near the cabin and stared at the dark sky filled with stars. After asking the question to Cygnus, he can't help feeling that the burden in his heart had been lifted up. He was glad that she didn't get angry of him for being absent to her party earlier. Remembering the event earlier, he can't help but smile.

Sometime later, he saw Hawkeye dragging his feet back to the cabin. Remembering of the incident earlier, he got down from the tree and chased after Hawkeye, who was heading towards his room. "Hawkeye," he called out to him. Hawkeye turned around and raised his eyebrow. "Sorry about today."

"It's alright," Hawkeye grinned. "The lady's happy, so it doesn't matter anymore."

"No, not about that; I'm talking about that time where I snapped at you and ignored you when you called my name at the lake. Sorry about that."

Hawkeye blinked. "Oh, about that?" he chuckled. "It's okay, so don't get it to you. We're partners, remember?"

Eckhart forced a smile. Hawkeye raised his hand to him and turned back to open the door to his room. Eckhart suddenly remembered something else and stopped him. "Wait."

"What now?"

"Were you the one who called the Empress to wait at the stairs of the Chamber of Knights, knowing that I would bump into her there?"

Hawkeye looked at him over his shoulders. Grinning, he replied, "Well, who knows?" Then, he entered his room and shut the door behind him. Eckhart stared at the door to his room and let out a laugh.

"What a liar," he said under his breath, then walked towards his own room.

That night, Eckhart dreamt of everyone reaching out their hands to him with impeccable smiles on their faces. It was the first time he had woken up with a smile on his face.

Because he knew that the light he had once hated is now his new home.


End file.
